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PCMTec Edition Required: Professional, One-Car Workshop, or Workshop.
This guide explains the steps to replace a ZF transmission and upload your existing calibration to it. This guide requires that the replacement transmission is from the same vehicle. E.g. if you have a BF you must source a ZF from another BF. If you have an FG you must source a ZF from another FG.
Note: BF TCMs can be converted to FG and vice versa by sending your TCM to either Brett at Custom Machine Works or Matt at BPR who both operate a mail order service for reprogramming the base operating system. This cannot be done with PCMTEC as it requires a special cable and software package.
If you attempt to put a BF ZF in an FG or vice versa you will have to replace the TCM/mechatronics in the box. Although the boxes are identical the real-time operating system is not. The real-time operating system is not written when you write the TCM hence you will end up with a TCM that is in limp mode if you do not swap it over.
If you do not follow this guide and attempt to write your existing calibration to the vehicle will get a "Vehicle serial does not match" error when attempting to write the old TCM file.
Step 1:
Read the existing old TCM and save it to disk. Ensure you have ticked "TCM" only within the flash read page. If the TCM was erased at any stage you can still do this step, but you will need to use recovery mode and manually select the TCM type from their corresponding dropdowns. For ZF there is only one option, Ford ZF.
Save this read as "Old TCM.tec".
If you no longer have the old TCM you will need to press Calibration Tools -> Create stock file", then press "Create Stock File From Strategy or Catchcode" then enter in the strategy from the old TCM eg 8R29-7J105-PE (this is NOT the hardware number which looks similar) and save this tile as "Old TCM.tec"
Step 2:
Install the new box ensuring the TCM plug is intact with no pins backing out (this is a common fault). Read the new TCM only by ensuring only TCM is ticked within the flash read page. Save this as "new TCM.tec".
Step 3:
Open the merge wizard via "Create Stock File/Calibration Merge".
Select "Manually Merge VID/Serial".
Press "Load File 1" and select "Old TCM.tec" Press "Load File 2" and select "new TCM.tec".
Next press "Import TCM Serial from File 2".
Press "Save File 1" and save it as "New merged TCM.tec".
Now license the file again (will cost 0 credits to license the new TCM file) and write the file to the vehicle.
Another vital point to check is that please make sure these two numbers are equal, ZF03987 and auF1692. This refers to the "TCM calibration level.
If not the TCM will go into limp mode. If they don’t match you can sometimes change the PCM scalar and it will work, though this is highly unrecommended, the correct approach is to ensure the original PCM/TCM strategies have matching calibration level scalars.
If you attempt to change the ZF scalar it will go into limp mode. Do not change this.
This is not a full-proof guide e.g. If the operating system ID is wrong, eg you have put a BF trans in an FG, you may not be able to get a matching calibration and you may have to resort to switching the mechatronics.
Under calibration tools -> show calibration list you can view all the TCM calibrations and their appropriate TCM Calibration level. You can search/filter this list to assist in finding a matching ZF calibration.
